'Hiplet' Has Ballet Dancers Getting Down to Hip-Hop
The dance style was created by Chicago-based instructor Homer Hans Bryant.
— -- The ballet mastermind behind the viral videos showing ballerinas’ dancing on pointe to hip-hop songs said he created the new breed of dance to “stay relevant.”
“In order to stay relevant with young people, you have to do what they’re doing now,” "Hiplet" creator Homer Hans Bryant said today on “Good Morning America.” “We’re training classical ballet but I put my ‘hiplet’ on pointe.”
Hans Bryant has taught everyone from Lady Gaga to first daughters Sasha and Malia Obama as the founder and artistic director of the Chicago Multicultural Dance Center.
When the ballet instructor began posting Instagram videos of his students’ dancing to Jason Derulo’s hit “If It Ain’t Love,” the “hiplet” style of dance went viral. Hans Bryant videos have since been shared and viewed thousands of times.
Hans Bryant said he has previously had his students do ballet to rap songs and the viral “running man” technique, but one thing always remains the same.
“They have to train in classical ballet discipline,” he said.